Trump II

[Alan Klein]

Maybe you can help us out by using selective quoting rather than just hitting the button and typing. It's pretty easy, just select the unwanted text and hit the delete key! Easie piepie...

  Sometimes i do that but I've been having trouble with the quick keys like italics, bold, underline, quote, etc.  When I click on them,  they don't work.  I have to type in the HTML codes.  If I'm using my cellphone, the task is really laborious so I don't even bother with HTML codes.  If someone could tell me how to correct my computer so the quick keys work, I'd be really grateful. 

[Robert Roaldi]

Opinion piece: Liberals can’t hope to beat Trump until they truly understand him by John Harris in the Guardian.

New game, new rules: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/liberals-donald-trump-rightwing-populists.

[Alan Klein]

Opinion piece: Liberals can’t hope to beat Trump until they truly understand him by John Harris in the Guardian.

New game, new rules: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/liberals-donald-trump-rightwing-populists.

Trump is the champion of the common man.  The left is out to lunch. 

[James Clark]

Opinion piece: Liberals can’t hope to beat Trump until they truly understand him by John Harris in the Guardian.

New game, new rules: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/liberals-donald-trump-rightwing-populists.

The point wasn’t necessarily to get things done; it was to retaliate against the media and other enemies.

If accurate, that's about the most pathetic thing I've ever heard.  Sadly I think it might be.  Liberals are happy when their pet projects are addressed.   Conservatives seem happiest when the can infuriate liberals.  It's sort of sad. 

[LesPalenik]

Trump is the champion of the common man.  The left is out to lunch.

Not a common man with common sense.

[James Clark]

Trump is the champion of the common man.

Indeed.  Quoth HL Mencken:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

[Alan Klein]

Indeed.  Quoth HL Mencken:
Quote
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

This is why Trump won and will win again.  The absolute constant insults about people you don't agree with.  They're morons, Nazis, ignorant, racists, well, downright deplorable.  Isn't that what Hillary called us on the way to losing?  You'll still doing it.  It's as if you learned nothing.   The left, the liberals and Democrats have total contempt for people who don't support their party line, don't agree with globalization, elite politics and crony capitalism,  open borders and world government.  They don't feel the pain of not being respected, that government does not care about them, laugh at their patriotism and faith.  They laugh at the people who live in flyover country.

The Dems continue to besmirch Trump because they have no real agenda to regain these people who were traditional Democrats and were abandoned by their party, the party of the worker.  It's amazing.  Democrats and Republicans have reversed their traditional platforms.  The Republicans have become the party of the workers, the common man and the Democrats have become the party of the elites.  The Democrat party has forgotten who they were.  They'll remain in the wilderness until they can find a path again that supports the majority of Americans. 

[Farmer]

America always seems to be helping out others.  It would have been nice for more countries beside Mexico and Canada to show some class and friendship to us.   Not much.  Maybe a kayak or two.

We frequently send specialist fire fighters and equipment to the US (CA in particular) when you have particularly bad wild fires.  We've sent other specialist for a variety of reasons, as do other nations when it's appropriate.

Generally, friends make offers through diplomatic channels and if they're needed, they do it - if not, nothing happens.  You see the US helping because you're in the US.  Lots of countries help a lot of others all the time.

[Schewe]

Well, this isn't going to make donny happy! So, Trump give a prez pardon–maybe to tell Flynn and Manafort that good ol' prez Trump will pardon you–except, donny's pardon is Fed only. Won't do any good against state charges!

Mueller teams up with New York attorney general in Manafort probe

The cooperation is the latest sign that the investigation into Trump's former campaign chairman is intensifying.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The cooperation is the latest indication that the federal probe into President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is intensifying. It also could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes.

The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.

No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. “Nothing is imminent,” said one of the people familiar with the case.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been a constant thorn in Trump's side. Schneiderman was involved in the Trump University investigation (that cost Trump a cool $25mil) and he was been biting of the heels of Trump's foundation. Trump even filed a $100 million malicious prosecution case, which was dismissed.

Naw, Donny won't be happy about this turn of events.

[Schewe]

He stepped into it again...the big orange dummy doesn't know about these things :~(

Trump's electoral threat against Sen. Claire McCaskill raises legal questions


President Donald Trump is not covered by the Hatch Act, the federal law prohibiting politicking while on official duty,
but White House officials are subject to the measure.

President Donald Trump’s public electoral threat Wednesday against Sen. Claire McCaskill during a speech in Missouri on tax reform triggered another round of questions about the administration’s blurring the line between partisan politics and official business.

Speaking at an industrial-fan factory in Springfield, Trump singled out McCaskill, a Democrat who is up for reelection next year in a state the president won decisively in 2016.

“We must — we have no choice — we must lower our taxes. And your senator, Claire McCaskill, she must do this for you, and if she doesn’t do it for you, you have to vote her out of office,” Trump said to loud applause and whistling from the audience. “She’s got to make that commitment. She’s got to make that commitment. If she doesn’t do it — we just can’t do this anymore with the obstruction and the obstructionists.”

Ethics experts said the main issue raised by the president’s comments is whether he was ad-libbing or whether White House aides planned for him to urge McCaskill’s defeat.

Trump is not covered by the Hatch Act, the federal law prohibiting politicking while on official duty, but White House officials are subject to the measure.

“The Office of Special Counsel should examine very closely if staffers were involved in the preparation of these remarks,” said Nick Schwellenbach, a former OSC official now with the Project on Government Oversight.

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush and now a University of Minnesota law professor, underscored that point.

[Jim Pascoe]

America always seems to be helping out others.  It would have been nice for more countries beside Mexico and Canada to show some class and friendship to us.   Not much.  Maybe a kayak or two.

Well it's a flood, albeit a very serious one, in the richest most powerful country in the world.  Just what could the rest of the world offer apart from money?  It is logical for Mexico to offer help - they are neighbours.  I don't think European countries would expect the USA to come to help us with natural disasters either.

We do actually have an unused sea-kayak in the garden but I fear the shipping costs would be very high.

I do have immense sympathy though for all the families and businesses affected - it must be a terrible time.

Jim

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

[...]
There is really nothing that a president can do or not do during a major natural disaster that won't piss off many people. That's just par for the job.
[...]

Well, showing some sincere compassion and offering relief rarely hurts anybody's emotions.

Cheers,
Bart

[LesPalenik]

Unfortunately, when it comes to large natural disasters, there is really nothing that a president can do ...

I agree with Otto. Doesn't matter what country, visiting disaster areas by presidents or prime ministers has evolved these days primarily to obligatory duties and PR opportunities.
Nothing wrong if they want to see first hand the disaster areas, but how it is handled now, in most cases it's a waste of the leader's time and taxpayers money. They should delegate such inspections to experts who are in charge of dealing with such disasters, know what they are doing and can act immediately to provide relief to the affected areas.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Well it's a flood, albeit a very serious one, in the richest most powerful country in the world.  Just what could the rest of the world offer apart from money?  It is logical for Mexico to offer help - they are neighbours.  I don't think European countries would expect the USA to come to help us with natural disasters either.

Indeed. However, in the case of Mexico, things may still backfire for the reconstruction of Houston after the flooding.

For Houston’s many undocumented immigrants, storm is just the latest challenge
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/for-houstons-many-undocumented-immigrants-storm-is-just-the-latest-challenge/2017/08/28/210f5466-8c1d-11e7-84c0-02cc069f2c37_story.html?utm_term=.423f3d33f490

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and one of the most diverse. Its metropolitan area, which includes the city and surrounding suburbs, has the third-largest unauthorized immigrant population in the country, about 575,000 people, according to a report this year by the Pew Research Center. Unauthorized immigrants made up 8.7 percent of the metro area’s population as of 2014, more than double the national average.

Advocates say Texas’s looming crackdown on illegal immigration has already driven many of those immigrants further into the shadows, and possibly, out of the state.

On Friday, Texas will officially outlaw sanctuary cities, threatening local police chiefs with jail time and city officials with losing their jobs if they do not help deport immigrants. The new law is being challenged in court by Houston and a number of other cities and localities.

Texas is also leading a coalition of GOP officials in 10 states threatening to sue President Trump if he doesn’t act by Sept. 5 to start phasing out the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has granted reprieves from deportation to nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants.

Hernandez, who has DACA protection, said many immigrant families in Texas fear increased racial profiling, detentions and deportations in the state once the sanctuary law takes effect.

“As concerned as everyone is about the hurricane, we have another disaster that’s heading our way, led by the government, led by Trump,” said Hernandez, 29, who came to the United States from Puebla, Mexico, when he was 2 years old.

Eduardo Canales, director of the South Texas Human Rights Center, said the state is at risk of losing much-needed low-wage workers — cleaners, cooks, carpenters and landscapers — who because of the crackdown may not stick around to help Texas communities recover from the storm.


I've read elsewhere that "More than a quarter of all Texas construction workers are illegal aliens, according to a Pew Research study from November 2016" .There's a shortage of construction workers, plumbers, painters, carpenters, landscapers, etc., not only because of low wages, but also because there are simply not enough legal Americans to do the work. Since the illegal workers are being targeted by the Trump Administration, many are keeping a low profile (even those who also lost their home and belongings), or are going back to Mexico. Rebuilding Houston will require even more workers than were used for the normal expansion.

The U.S. Might Not Have Enough Construction Workers to Rebuild Houston After Harvey
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/08/28/houston_might_not_have_enough_construction_workers_to_rebuild_after_harvey.html

The first concern will be the financial resources necessary: Will insurance companies cover all the losses, and how much of them? How will the federal government’s heavily indebted flood insurance program come up with the cash to pay claims? And how much additional assistance will the federal government provide?

There’s another problem: a lack of human resources. It takes a lot of labor to remove debris after a storm and then reinstall Sheetrock and drywall, rebuild floors, and fix electrical and plumbing systems. The work is resistant to automation. And it is but one way in which Houston, which was poorly situated to deal with a hurricane, may also be poorly situated to recover from it.

The issue is that the United States is suffering from a shortage of workers generally, and specifically from a shortage of workers with some of the necessary skills to assist in disaster recovery. 

I do have immense sympathy though for all the families and businesses affected - it must be a terrible time.

Yes, although it goes without saying, it may be worthwhile to mention it anyway. The loss of lives and the material losses are a tragedy, so we can only hope that these people receive all the support they deserve.

Cheers,
Bart

[Chris Kern]

On Friday, Texas will officially outlaw sanctuary cities, threatening local police chiefs with jail time and city officials with losing their jobs if they do not help deport immigrants. The new law is being challenged in court by Houston and a number of other cities and localities.

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the Texas government from enforcing the ban on "sanctuary cities" pending a lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality.  A preliminary injunction is a fairly rare judicial intervention which is granted only after a judge concludes that a litigant is likely to prevail in a lawsuit, and would suffer irreparable injury if the enjoined action was permitted to be carried out.

I've read elsewhere that "More than a quarter of all Texas construction workers are illegal aliens, according to a Pew Research study from November 2016" .There's a shortage of construction workers, plumbers, painters, carpenters, landscapers, etc., not only because of low wages, but also because there are simply not enough legal Americans to do the work. Since the illegal workers are being targeted by the Trump Administration, many are keeping a low profile (even those who also lost their home and belongings), or are going back to Mexico. Rebuilding Houston will require even more workers than were used for the normal expansion.

It seemed that every young man I spoke to during a January visit to San Miguel de Allende—my wife and I decided Mexico was the only appropriate venue from which to experience the Trump inauguration—had done construction work in Texas at one time or another.  Always without a visa that provided work authorization, no doubt, although I was reluctant to ask.  One restaurant waiter told me he was looking forward to Trump's border wall.  "I hope your Congress gives him the money," he said.  "He is going to need a lot of Mexican workers to build it."

[Otto Phocus]

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the Texas government from enforcing the ban on "sanctuary cities" pending a lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality.

If this goes to the Supreme Court, it will be an interesting case to follow. The federal government can authorize state and local LE organizations to enforce federal law, but it remains to be demonstrated that the federal government can require state and local LE organizations to enforce federal law.

It will be a most interesting case to follow.

[kers]

.... One restaurant waiter told me he was looking forward to Trump's border wall.  "I hope your Congress gives him the money," he said.  "He is going to need a lot of Mexican workers to build it."

With floods like these in Houston Mexicans will simply sail into Texas making this wall the new Maginot Line.

[Peter McLennan]

Trump is the champion of the common man.  The left is out to lunch.

Alan, you have been well and truly hoodwinked by a cheap carnival barker. A phony television huckster. An Anscochrome shyster of not inconsiderable theatrical skills. You, and the America you claim he stands for, are being well and truly fleeced.

The left indeed is out to lunch. They're sitting at the restaurant sipping their bordeaux and waiting until this all implodes so they can begin the massive cleanup.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

IMHO a good summary of the rebuilding challenges after Harvey.

How Trump's immigration crackdown could slow flood-hit Houston's efforts to rebuild
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-harvey-immigration-idUSKCN1BA2M0

QUOTE   August 30, 2017 / 10:22 PM  "HOUSTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In the coming weeks, as Houston turns its attention to rebuilding areas devastated by Tropical Storm Harvey, people like Jay De Leon are likely to play an outsized role – if they stay around.

De Leon, 47, owns a small construction business in Houston, and he and his 10 employees do exactly the kind of demolition and refurbishing the city will need.  But like a large number of construction workers in Texas, De Leon and most of his workers live in the United States illegally, and that could make things complicated.

The Pew Research Center estimated last year that 28 percent of Texas’s construction workforce is undocumented, while other studies have put the number as high as 50 percent. Construction employed 23 percent of working undocumented adults in Texas at the end of 2014, higher than any other sector, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

However, undocumented immigrants are growing increasingly nervous in Texas because of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration that has cast a wide net.

In addition, undocumented immigrants were worried about a new Texas law that had been scheduled to take effect on Friday, which would have barred cities in the state from embracing so-called sanctuary policies that offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants, and would have allowed  local police to inquire about a person’s immigration status.

That law was temporarily enjoined by a federal judge late Wednesday, but the state’s governor has vowed to appeal. "

Cheers,
Bart

[scyth]

IMHO a good summary of the rebuilding challenges after Harvey.

it is not for the simpe reason that illegal aliens are called "undocumented immigrants" ... it is high time to call things what they are and create a temp work visas for low skilled  foreighners a-la bracero program, with the restrictions related to social security/medicare taxes collected from them and granting (NOT) citizenship to children of braceros born here... or better yet - detain illegal aliens, put in chain gangs and force to work in Houston to compensate for their own deportation...